Waiting
by NeverMineToHold
Summary: Kakashi acts out of character. Iruka was the first to say something, though hardly the one to first notice... KakaNaru


Title: "Waiting"

Status: OneShot

Fandom: Naruto

Characters/Pairing: Naruto Uzumaki/Kakashi Hatake; Sakura Haruno, Iruka Umino, Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki

Disclaimer: Copyright Masashi Kishimoto; no copyright infringement intended.

Rating: T

Genre: friendship/family, angst, established relationship, slash

Warnings: unbeta'ed

Summary: Kakashi was acting out of character. Iruka was the first to say something, though hardly the one to first notice...

Note: Based on the theme prompt "left behind."

Waiting

Iruka sat at his desk, a carefully arranged stack of scrolls in front of him; ready to hand out new missions and receive fulfillment reports. Many chunin found administrative duties tedious but Iruka welcomed the quiet and routine in the afternoons, after having spent hours teaching lively children at the academy.

Half of his attention was on a newly minted genin team and their ragged looking sensei while he jotted down some notes, with the rest covertly focused on Kakashi Hatake. The jounin had strolled in and waved a greeting, never bothering to look up from his Icha Icha. That in and of itself was nothing unusual; him never turning a page was.

"Hatake-san," Iruka called, after having waited a moment for Kakashi to notice that Team 3 had left. "Tsunade-sama was already asking after your report."

Kakashi blinked at him, and Iruka wondered if he had actually managed to catch the jounin unawares of his surroundings. He didn't comment as Kakashi patted his pockets in search of a scroll he handed Iruka a moment later.

"Here."

"Thank you."

Iruka watched him turn to leave and hesitated, wondering if it would do more harm than good to call him out on his behavior. "Hatake-san."

Kakashi stopped in the doorway and looked back over his shoulder. "Hn?"

"I'm sure he will be back soon."

Iruka couldn't see the look on the jounin's face, not with his mask and hair covering most of it from this angle, but a sudden tension darkened the rooms atmosphere. Kakashi didn't answer, just waved and left.

Iruka sighed and turned to the window, watching the clouds drift by in a clear blue sky. He was worried, too.

"Please come home, Naruto."

XXX

Kakashi scowled down at the book in his hands, then put it away. He couldn't concentrate on the story and even the juicy parts did nothing to distract him from his thoughts. Worse, after two weeks he had reached the point where others started to notice.

Kakashi stepped around a gaggle of gossiping women and followed the main street towards the gate; his sandals stirred up dust. The sun would set in an hour...

Visiting the memorial stone earlier had been a bad idea.

Usually Kakashi found peace there. Talking to his old team-mates and sensei helped him to sort out his feelings and clear his thoughts. Today his eye had found unerringly the empty space just waiting to be filled with the names of the fallen. The sudden feeling of foreboding had sent him back to Konoha, seeking refuge in its hustle and bustle.

Passing the supermarket his keen nose caught a whiff from Ichiraku's ramen bar. The smell of noodles, broth and fried pork made his stomach roil, but he stopped to order a bowl anyway.

Kakashi set the fishcakes aside on the porcelains edge, saving them until last.

XXX

"Sensei, what did you do now?"

Sakura was torn between concern and the urge to give the jounin a piece of her mind about all the minor injuries he had accumulated lately.

"Suman, Sakura," Kakashi said with a smile that crinkled his eye and looked horribly fake, though his sheepish tone sounded genuine. "I got carried away."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Nothing important."

Sakura knew better than to try and pry the answer out of him. She sighed and concentrated on the flow of her chakra, molding it to fit Kakashi's and feeding it into the bite-shaped wound in his thumb.

She studied the marks teeth had left. At first she had thought it might be the bite of a dog, but now that she had gotten a closer look, she could guess what had happened: Kakashi had used his kuchiyose no jutsu - again - to summon his nin-ken and bitten himself too deeply.

He wouldn't even have visited her to get treatment, Sakura was sure, if he hadn't had that mission tomorrow. Only a B-rank, because Tsunade-sama was worried for him, too.

"There, that should do the trick."

"Thanks, Sakura."

"You're welcome, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura told him with a smile.

She listened to the fading echoes of his footsteps, down the corridor and out through the hospitals main entrance. She had tried, but Kakashi wouldn't talk to her. He acted as if everything was normal, even though the reality of what might have happened seemed to slowly sink in.

Sakura's fist crashed into the wall. Bits of plaster hit her cheeks; the sting welcome. "Damn you, Naruto, I'm going to kill you if you died!"

XXX

"The gate will be closed in five minutes," Kotetsu stated with a glance to the clock. He leaned back in his chair and stretched, not bothering to stifle his yawn. "That's it for today!"

"Oi."

"What?" His eyes followed the line of Izumo's pointing finger to see a shadow perched atop the wall. "Yeah, he showed up while you were gone delivering that scroll to the Hokage."

"Again?"

"Every night ever since - well, you know."

"Yeah. They shouldn't have sent Naruto all alone, jinchuuriki or not. Damn the council."

"Shh! Don't say something like that, you'll get us into trouble!"

XXX

The moon had come out hours ago and Konoha lay still and silent in the dead of night. Even as the guards changed, Kakashi Hatake remained on the wall, sharingan fixed on the horizon.

When his dogs came back to report that they had found nothing, he vanished.

XXX

A dark blurr entered the apartment of Kakashi Hatake, jumping in through the open window. Anyone awake might have spotted a hint of white porcelain or heard the flutter of a red-stained cape.

Naruto pulled off his mask and gave Kakashi a tired grin. "Sorry I'm late."

The End

R&R


End file.
